In reading the pieces in The Heights and being a senior, I've come to reflect on the transition that Boston College has undergone when discussing race over my past four years.
Although it seems as though there have been important improvements made (e.g. the hate crime protocol and the discussions that have continued since then), I can't help but think that we're failing to address another very important issue besides race. As a white student on campus, I've tried to get involved in student groups that will help me to better understand culture as well as social issues pressing this campus and the City of Boston.
I, too, have expressed frustration with my friends (undoubtedly, a majority of them white) who say that race doesn't seem like an issue here. As I thought about the discussions being pushed forward, I've noticed one that often is overlooked when discussing differences in our student experiences: the socio-economic status of most of the students who attend Boston College.
I know this is treading on dangerous ground, as people are even more hesitant to talk about their status than about race because it's a mostly invisible issue. We don't think about wealth in terms of experience because for the most part, everyone on campus seems homogeneous.
My freshman year, administrators met to speak with a student group I belonged to, and I remember being told that as much as 60 percent of students pay full sticker price for BC, and that a sizable portion have parents whose combined incomes total over $250,000. If the United States has a sharpening divide between those who have more and those with less, I find it funny we wouldn't discuss class just as we would race.
Does "class-ism" not exist here? How can we begin to understand each other if we don't first recognize our backgrounds beyond a cultural level? I would hope that some of these student forums are addressing the socio-economic divide. If we are to discuss such issues such as affirmative action, or to reflect about the service we do within the community, must we not also recognize our socio-economic differences? Can we be men and women for others if we don't try to see how the others live?
Perhaps it is naive to hope people would be comfortable talking about their bank accounts. After all, once we've exposed ourselves as lower, middle, or upper class, there lay certain stereotypes. No one wants people to think they can't afford something or that their background means they are unequipped to succeed; likewise, those who can afford certain opportunities may feel as though they are judged as not having worked as hard to get what they wanted.
Perhaps by opening this arena of discussion, we could start to connect the dots as to what "disadvantaged" really means.
Andrew LaVenia
A&S '10
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